Open to Public
Antigone in Savannah
Free Event
Please RSVP through the link provided. The event Zoom link will be distributed via email, and available to registered attendees starting 2 days prior to the event.
Wed, Dec 21.2022
Virtual Event
Antigone in Savannah fuses dramatic readings by acclaimed actors of Sophocles’ Antigone with live choral and gospel music performed by choirs and singers from Savannah, St. Louis, and New York City to frame powerful audience-driven dialogue about the challenges and opportunities of honoring the dead and healing historical wounds. This special, hybrid event will take place outdoors in Savannah, Georgia near an unmarked burial ground for enslaved Africans. By performing Sophocles’ Antigone, an ancient play about a young woman who puts everything on the line to bury her brother, for diverse audiences on this sacred ground and on Zoom, the project aims to generate compassion, reverence, understanding, and positive action.
Co-presented by Theater of War Productions, The On Being Project, and the Center for Jubilee, Reconciliation, & Healing.
Featuring performances by Jesse Eisenberg (The Social Network), Kara Young (The Punisher), Marjolaine Goldsmith (Dress), Ato Blankson-Wood (When They See Us), Rosalyn Rouse (Susie King Taylor: What A Wonderful Revolution), Rev. Dr. Leonard Small (Pastor, Litway Baptist Church), and Krista Tippett (Founder + Editor in Chief, The On Being Project).
Soloists: Daniel McRath, Duane Foster, De-Rance Blaylock, and John Leggette
Chorus: De-Andrea Blaylock-Solar, Latricia Allen , and Marcelle Lashley
Musicians: Ja’Mes Davis and Jason Davis
Sound Designer: Matt Craig
Lighting Designer: Kent Sprague
Stage Manager: Ange Lopalito
Translated, directed and facilitated by Bryan Doerries.
Music composed and conducted by Dr. Philip A. Woodmore.
Produced by THE OFFICE performing arts + film.
Supported by The Hearthland Foundation.
Support for our digital programming is provided, in part, by the Mellon Foundation.
Opt-in notice: All registrants for Antigone in Savannah will receive a series of event-related emails (pre & post) from our partners at The On Being Project, contextualizing the project within their ongoing work in the state of Georgia.
Antigone in Savannah will take place on Zoom Webinar, broadcast from Savannah, and can be accessed on personal devices. The event Zoom link will be distributed via email and available to registered attendees starting 2 days prior to the event.
This event will be captioned in English.
All of Theater of War Productions' events follow the same format:
- The performers will read the text.
- Community panelists will kick off the discussion with their gut responses to what resonated with them across time.
- We will open the discussion to the audience, facilitated by Bryan Doerries. During the discussion, please raise your hand using the button at the bottom center of the screen. If called upon, please accept the invitation to be promoted to speak and you will be visible and heard by the entire audience for the duration of your comments. If you would prefer not to be seen, please disable your video.
About the play
-
Antigone by Sophocles
Sophocles’ Antigone is an ancient play about a teenage girl who wishes to bury her brother, Polyneices, who recently died in a brutal civil war. Creon, the new, untested king, has ruled that Polyneices’ body must remain above the earth, and that anyone who breaks this law will be put to death. Antigone openly and intentionally defies his edict, covering her brother’s body with dirt and publicly declaring her allegiance to a higher law, one that transcends that of the state—the law of love. Creon is then forced, by his own political rhetoric, and the by fragile social order that he has barely begun to establish since the civil war, to make an example of his niece, by sentencing her to death. In the process of following through with his own decree, Creon loses everything. At its core, Antigone is a play about what happens when personal conviction and state law clash, raising the question: When everyone is right (or feels justified), how do we avert the violence that will inevitably take place?
Cast Members
-
Jesse Eisenberg
Creon
-
Kara Young
Antigone
-
Marjolaine Goldsmith
Ismene
-
Ato Blankson Wood
Haemon
-
Rosalyn Rouse
Guard/Messenger
-
Rev. Dr. Leonard Small
Tiresias
-
De-Rance Blaylock
Soloist
-
Duane Foster
Soloist
-
John Leggette
Soloist
-
Daniel McRath
Soloist
Press Coverage
-
Dec 20.2022
Savannah Now
Antigone in Savannah will feature Fleishman in Trouble Jesse Eisenberg
-
Dec 15.2022
From the Newsroom: Savannah Now
The Commute, December 15 (Bryan Doerries on bringing 'Antigone' to Savannah's former Calhoun Square)
-
Jan 11.2023
WJCL 22 News
Greek mythology comes to the Hostess City
-
Dec 21.2022
Spectrum Local News
St. Louis singers bring voices to 'Antigone in Savannah,' joining performers from across country
-
Dec 14.2022
The Savannah Tribune
Antigone In Savannah
Get involved
-
Center for Jubilee, Reconciliation, and Healing, Inc.
centerforjubilee.com
Antigone in Savannah Partners
Explore Projects
-
War & Mental HealthTheater of War: Hector, Andromache, and the Death of AstyanaxTheater of War: Hector, Andromache, and the Death of Astyanax presents live, dramatic readings of selections from Homer’s Iliad, Book VI and scenes from The Trojan Women by Euripides—featuring acclaimed actors and a Chorus of students, from a variety of backgrounds, whose lives have been impacted by war—to help frame powerful, healing dialogue about the human cost of war, centered on the suffering of children and civilians. The project uses ancient texts that explore and depict the dehumanization of war to create a vocabulary for openly discussing challenging and divisive subjects, with the aim of generating compassion, empathy, moral repair, understanding, and positive action.
-
GenocideThe InvestigationTheater of War Productions and the Museum of Jewish Heritage, in partnership with the National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene, present readings of scenes Peter Weiss' play The Investigation, a piece of documentary theater adapted from the Frankfurt Auschwitz Trials of 1963-1965. This project centers on guided discussions about mass murder and its lasting impact upon individuals, families, communities, and countries throughout the world. Performed by a diverse cast, including international performers from communities affected by genocide, The Investigation seeks to generate powerful dialogue across cultures and communities about the human capacity for evil, as well as the systems and hierarchies that create the conditions for unthinkable violence.
-
Addiction & Substance AbuseAddiction Performance ProjectDesigned to raise awareness about opiate addiction and alcohol abuse, the project is intended to promote dialogue about helping those who are struggling with addiction.